CAMPAIGN ENDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 206, 31 August 1936, Page 10

CAMPAIGN ENDS.

YOUTH FOR CHRIST. BIG PROCESSION IN CITY. MEETING IN THE TOWN HALL, To have seen the procession which passed through the city yesterday of those who have pledged their lives to the Christian way of living was to realise the value and the success of the "Youth for Christ" campaign, which was ended yesterday and which lias been continued in the city for the past two weeks. Two thousand young men and women responded to the appeals which were made by the speakers during the fortnight of the campaign to> bear witness of their acceptance of Christ. After the procession some 4000 people gathered at the Town Hall to be addressed by his Grace, Archbishop Averni. The procession assembled at East Street, off Symonds Street, and headed by the Newton and Congress Hall bands of the Salvation Army, marched to the Town Hall by way of Symonds Street, Karangahapc Road and Upper Queen Street. It is seldom that such a crowd has been present at the Town Hall. Every seat was filled, while a supplementary service was held in tiie concert chamber for those who could not gain admission into the main hall. The service was also broadcast. Though the campaign was over, said the Rev. J. A. Thomson, who presided, each young man and woman owed loyalty to Jesus Christ and should carry oil the campaign in his or her own sphere. The rally was a great and fitting climax*. "There is a danger," he added, "that when we have reached a successful climax as far as numbers and enthusiasm are concerned, we may let our hands fall idly by our sides. There has never been a time in the history of our race when the challenge of Jesus Christ to us has been stronger than it is to-day. The world needs young people dedicated to God." j

In these days when the world seemed to be going back to madness and even idolatry, and the only hope of the world was Christ, the campaign had suggested to young people that they should take a more definite stand on the side of Christ, said the Archbishop. This result the campaign had produced, as the procession had shown. Religion, said his Grace, was not an extra or a tag. It, was a necessity. Religion was one of the aids to building up a Christian character and character affected the destinies of others. Christ, he continued, had said that men of positive Christian character were the salt ot the earth. "The value of salt lies in its difference from the matter with which it conies in contact. If your life is not different it has lost its savour and you are no good to God or man. You are the salt of the earth so long as you have the moral courage and grit and determination to be different from other people." The Rev. R Dudley, of Wanganui, was the speaker at the gathering in the concert chamber, and the Rev. F. T. Olds was chairman. The final services of the campaign were held in city churches yesterday and last evening.